Friday Two Cents: A Matter Of Perspective

I found myself reflecting on a lot of topics these past two weeks. The provincial election, international politics, sports, colleague integrations and a host of other subjects have been on my mind a great deal. Yet one subject matter has dominated my time like no other.

I am an occasional (supply) teacher in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and as you may guess I have been rather busy these past few months supplying in many classrooms. Where ever I go the staff have been welcoming and friendly. The students are their usual selves, trying to take advantage of a supply teacher as I use to do when I was a student. I have found going into different schools a great education in how other teachers instruct their students and I have learned a few technics and picked up a lot of ideas along the way. Yet one situation found me trying to be sympathetic, but I could not be.

At this time of year many teachers receive their assignments for the following school year to help them prepare for the grade they will teach. This allows them to prepare resources at the end of the year for the new group of students they will see in September. Most of my colleagues are happy with this time and are making every effort to prepare while finishing up the year. However I have met a few who are frankly upset with the assignment they received and in some instances openly cry and are physically upset with what they have. I understand that if you did not get what you were hoping for that you might be upset, but this reaction was not what I expected.

In truth I look at these people with permanent full-time jobs, complaining about their assignments as losing perspective. In fact they should be grateful that they even have a permanent position. You see I have not had a permanent job since the year 2000. That’s 18 years of working part-time jobs, getting my degrees and working contract positions always wondering when and where my next pay cheque will come from. It wasn’t for a lack of trying to find a job but I had to work hard to get even those positions. At one point I even took on 3 part-time jobs to simply make ends meet. Therefore when I see these people look at the negative side of having a job simply because they do not like what they got, I truly have no sympathy for them.

From my perspective, if I were in their shoes, yes I would be upset that I did not get what I wanted, however I would try to look to the positives. The first one being the most important, I have a job in a field I enjoy. I have colleagues I can rely on and ask for help if the need arises. Change is not always a bad thing; it gives you a fresh new way of looking at things. Just as Dan Brown once said …

‘Sometimes a change of perspective is all it takes to see the light.’ Dan Brown

Perhaps those people should look from my perspective and the perspective of others who are in similar situations. I wonder how they would react then?

About Me

Born and raised in Toronto Canada, I am a certified Elementary teacher working at a school board with children from kindergarten to grade 5. The one thing you should know about me is that I love all art forms but especially drawing, writing and music.

I discovered that when I inspire others, they in turn inspire me. This wonderful realization is the inspiration in creating this blog. My creativity comes from the people around me. Hopefully, I can inspire others as they have inspired me.
I try and post everyTuesday and Friday along the following themes:

Tuesday – I will try to post some of my art or that of the children’s
Friday “Friday Two Cents” – I will try to post my opinion, or my two cents, on something that happened in the news or to me during the week.

But watch out during the other days of the week just in case. If I find something Inspiring, Interesting or Creative, I will do my best to share it